


Capes, Charisma, and Conner

by obsessivemuch



Category: Power Rangers Dino Thunder, Power Rangers Mystic Force
Genre: Crossover, Friendship, Gen, Gen Fic, Magic Revealed, Revelations, Team-up, Wisdom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-05-27
Updated: 2008-05-27
Packaged: 2017-10-28 15:42:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/309437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/obsessivemuch/pseuds/obsessivemuch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Trio visits the Rockporium and finds more than comics for Ethan and CDs for Kira.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Capes, Charisma, and Conner

"Wait, stop the car!" Ethan howled, startling his friends in the front seat.

Conner barely avoided swerving into a tree. "Dude, that was seriously uncool," he said, glaring at Ethan through the rearview mirror as he turned the key in the ignition. "Your life is not worth more than my car."

"Shut up, Conner," Kira responded before she turned to look at Ethan. "You can't need to stop again. We just stopped at the edge of town."

"No, Kira, look!" He pointed at the narrow building across the road.

She peered at the sign and brightened. "Rockporium? I've heard about this place. It's like a shrine to rock."

"I've heard they have an awesome collection of old Marvel comics," Ethan said, awe in his voice. "We should go in."

Conner interrupted abruptly. "No, we should keep going. Cam and the others are expecting us for dinner."

"Con, what kind of a road trip would it be without a stop at some kitschy little place?" Kira asked, already unbuckling her seatbelt. "And you've never worried about being on time before."

Knowing that it was a losing battle, Conner grumbled under his breath but followed Kira and Ethan out of the car. Spending his afternoon in a tiny, dark building was not his idea of a great time. Spending time with his brother was not necessarily a better proposition, but he enjoyed hanging out with Cam, Tori, Dustin, and Shane. A pretty girl in a work uniform stood outside, her handheld camera recording all the people who strolled past. Conner was forced to revise his opinion when she smiled at them; maybe this place wouldn't be a total waste. "Hello," he said in a low voice, pasting on his most charismatic smile.

"Welcome to Rockporium," she said. Her nametag had the name "Madison" stenciled on it.

Kira tugged on his arm. "Come on, Conner. Quit flirting with the girl who clearly doesn't want you to hit on her." She looked apologetically at the girl. "Sorry, we can't take him anywhere."

The answering smile was much less artificial this time. "I have a friend just like that."

Annoyed by their apparent bonding, Conner held the door open for Kira and Madison. "Let's see why this place is worth stopping for, Kira." Finding Ethan standing in front of the comic books was not surprising; in fact, he was chatting cheerfully with a redhead wearing a black cape over his beige T-shirt that indicated he was also an employee.

In the meantime, Kira headed straight for the wall with hundreds of CDs, her expression full of awe. "Looks like your friends have found their shrines," Madison noted in an even voice.

"I guess you don't have anything that's about soccer." He surveyed the store with a curious expression.

Madison frowned slightly. "You know, we probably do have something here, but . . ." She nodded toward the doorway that opened into a bigger room. "There's a TV in there. Ask Nick for the remote control."

"Nick?"

"The guy wearing the Rockporium shirt over the red T-shirt. He's probably reading one of his bike magazines."

"Thanks," Conner said. Madison gave him a genuine smile and moved toward Kira who was enthralled by some CD in her hand. He strolled toward the back room and glanced over to a nearby corner where a girl with streaked hair was dancing to music she was listening to through headphones. She was wearing an identical Rockporium shirt to the other employees and from the way she looked, it was evident that she was related to Madison. When she caught him staring, the girl glared at him in a way that would have put Principal Randall to shame. "Apparently, Madison is the good sister," he muttered under his breath as he walked into the back room.

"You got that right," a voice said and Conner glanced over to find yet another employee leaning against the wall and flipping through a magazine.

"Nick?" he guessed, the red shirt and the magazine dead giveaways.

The shorter guy raised an eyebrow and shut the magazine. "Maddie must have given you my name."

Conner grinned. "She told me to ask you for the remote, dude. This place isn't really my kind of place so she suggested the TV."

"If this place isn't really your kind of place, then why are you here?" Nick asked, handing over the remote.

He waved carelessly behind him. "My friends. Ethan loves comic books and Kira likes looking at CDs and records. She's a musician," he said, almost as an afterthought. "This place is practically a church to them so they made me stop. We're never going to make it to Blue Bay Harbor in time for dinner at this rate."

Nick smiled at the complaint. Like any growing teenager, he understood the irritation at not eating on a regular schedule. "Is Blue Bay Harbor home?"

"What? No, we're traveling from Reefside to Blue Bay Harbor to visit some friends. Oh, and my twin brother."

He barely had a chance to register the offhand comment, certainly no time to consider why friends would beat out a brother (though had he time to think about it, he would have seen the irony of his own situation). Before he could think about it, his attention was drawn to a sudden commotion in the other room. Someone appeared to be making a noise that sounded almost unholy, a cross between a cry and a squeal. Attuned to his friends, Nick ran into the other room, Conner at his heels. "What's going on?" he shouted.

Conner had immediately looked toward Kira, concerned that she might have made the noise so eerily reminiscent of her Ptera Scream. His worry wasn't exactly allayed when he saw the way the harpy from earlier was hovering around her with an almost eager expression. From the stunned expression on Nick's face, it was evident that he had never heard Vida make that particular noise. "Kira?"

While Ethan and Chip hurried to join the rest of the group, Vida turned to look at her friends. "Do you know who this is?" she demanded.

Used to her sister's flirtations with drama, Madison relaxed and studied Kira's face intently. "I'm sorry, you don't look familiar."

Vida made noises of outrage, but Kira gave an awkward wave. "I'm Kira Ford if that helps any."

"We saw you last summer in Reefside. You were playing a tiny little café," Vida informed her bluntly.

"Oh, Kira plays Hayley's café a lot." Ethan sounded so matter-of-fact that everyone else gave Vida a puzzled glance.

She gestured emphatically. "I play your songs when I DJ on the weekends. Freak You Out is a crowd favorite, you know."

Highly gratified by the comment, Kira smiled at Vida, her awkwardness dissipating. "I didn't know that, but I'm glad that people are hearing my music."

"Remember how much Vida played Freak You Out last fall over the store speakers?" Chip said suddenly, all the pieces clicking into place.

"Our regular customers could all sing along to it by the time Toby banned Vida from playing it more than once a day." Madison smiled at the rest of the group. "Not that it stops her from playing it constantly at home. She's convinced that you're the next big thing."

"She is," Conner said firmly. Ethan nodded fervently, making Kira beam at her friends's faith.

Before any of the Briarwood teens could respond, the door to the Rockporium swung open and a jaunty voice rang out. "Whose sweet ride is that?" A boy carrying a skateboard strode into the room and headed straight for them, expertly putting on his Rockporium shirt over his green T-shirt with one hand.

"How many employees does this place need?" Conner heard Ethan mutter under his breath. He suppressed a laugh and stepped forward to claim his baby.

"It's my car."

"Hi, I'm Xander Bly." Conner found himself shaking the hand of the newcomer with surprise. Xander was definitely friendlier than the rest of his coworkers (although only Vida had seemed to be less than friendly).

"Conner McKnight. This is Ethan James and Kira Ford."

He tilted his head and considered the names. "Kira Ford – aren't you a singer or something?"

"Vida strikes again," Chip whispered.

Conner could have sworn that Kira's smile was almost flirtatious when she nodded. But Xander seemed to have the attention span of a gnat, and he turned to grin at Madison. "So why aren't you taping this, Maddie? It'd make a nice Christmas present for Vida."

"Not everybody likes to be on camera," she pointed out. "Just because you like to show off doesn't mean everyone else does."

He looked stricken by her comment, but on the verge of Madison's apology, he laughed, unable to keep the facade going. "I'm the reason your videos are so successful. Right, V?"

Having already been the recipient of one of Vida's Looks, Conner was not surprised to see the disgusted one she shot Xander. It reminded him vaguely of Kira's expression when Nikki Valentina had come to town. They all laughed as Xander crouched down and made a sign to ward off an evil spirit. It was evident that he was the clown of the group and Conner couldn't help instantly liking him. Xander appeared to be exactly what he was, uncomplicated, fun, and comfortable in his own skin.

Vida ignored Xander's dramatics, clutching at Kira's arm. "I have something for you to hear."

"Vida, leave it alone," Madison said, her voice full of fond exasperation.

However, Kira finally seemed to be used to Vida's enthusiasm and gave a congenial smile to the girl. "Let's go, uh, Vida."

They moved away toward the table in the corner, their voices lowered. "Have you seen the latest edition of Astonishing X-Men?"

The question was directed at Ethan from the guy who was wearing a cape, his attention focused again on the discussion that had been interrupted by Vida's squeal earlier. Ever interested in geek matters, Ethan jumped right back into the conversation, hardly pausing to take a breath as he jabbered at the boy. After they wandered away, Nick gave the smaller group a wondering look. "I thought Chip was one of a kind."

"Don't worry, I think he's still unique," Conner answered, nodding toward the cape. "Ethan's never worn a cape before. Or at least I don't remember it if he did."

"I think that's something you would remember." Madison gave him an arch look. "When your best friend wears a cape, you remember."

Conner shrugged. "We've only been friends for a few years. I don't remember Ethan before that even though we went to the same school. I guess I would remember making fun of him if he had worn a cape." But his voice was so uncertain that Xander looked puzzled.

"You would make fun of him if he wore a cape?"

"Dude, it's a cape!" Conner said with a laugh. None of them seemed pleased at his comment which made him remember that he had just insulted their best friend and he silenced his laughter immediately. "Sorry, Ethan hates it when I make fun of him for being a geek. It's kind of a habit, you know?"

"Not really," Madison answered coolly.

Conner shifted under their scrutiny. "So what's his story?" They cared deeply about their friend so he tried to be interested in him as well. He wasn't sure why he was trying so hard, but he realized that he felt the same way about Ethan and Kira.

"He's a good guy," Xander said quickly, trying to dispel the tension. "Great archer plus he's interested in a lot of different things."

"So what does the cape represent? Is it part of a club he belongs to?"

The three teenagers exchanged glances that were strangely familiar to Conner though he couldn't put his finger on why. "Sort of," Nick said evasively. "It's more of a tribute."

"Tribute?" Conner stared over at Chip who was waving his hand wildly at the cover of a graphic novel. "Like to superheroes?"

Her camera forgotten in her hand, Madison nodded politely. "He's a big fan of superheroes."

"Like Superman and the Power Rangers," Xander added cheerfully, ignoring his friends' warning expressions.

"The Ninja Storm Rangers?" Blue Bay Harbor was near enough that he could see someone being a fan in Briarwood. Briarwood. "Wait a minute, doesn't Briarwood have a set of Rangers? Something to do with magic and capes," he said triumphantly.

Xander looked pained for some reason, but Nick rolled over his words before Xander even started to speak. "The Mystic Force Rangers."

"Cool." His comment surprised them.

"You believe in magic?" Madison asked.

Conner considered the question. Of all the things he had seen and done, magic seemed so common that he couldn't imagine believing in it. Although he was glad the Mystic Force Rangers had been the ones to wind up with capes. Of course, Kira had had wings that looked kind of like a cape, but her Zord flew so it made sense. "Why wouldn't I believe in magic? All I have to do is look at the Power Rangers to know that magic has to be real."

They gaped at him, but there was no time to say anything else since the door opened and a girl scurried into the building, throwing cautious looks over her shoulder. She was wearing a strangely old-fashioned dress, but Rockporium's employees recognized her instantly. "Clare, what are you doing here?" Nick moved to intercept her, glancing at Conner with concern.

Conner hadn't noticed his odd behavior, his face focusing on the girl's familiar features. "Krista?"

The girl called Clare looked up suddenly, her eyes locking on Conner's face with a startled, deer-in-the-headlights expression. Her mouth opened and then she shut it, resembling a fish. Madison came to her rescue. "Conner, this is Clare. She's a friend of ours."

"Yeah, mate, I don't know why you called her Krista," Xander said with a laugh.

Clare leaned up and whispered something in Nick's ear, something that made him smile with agreement. "Right, I'll let everyone know." With one sidelong look at Conner, she scrambled toward the door, knocking over a display. "Don't worry about it. I'll take care of it," Nick called when she paused to clean up her mess. A grateful nod later, the door had closed and Nick strode over to straighten up the display.

"Conner?" Kira had moved past Nick, her eyes focused on his bewildered expression. "What's wrong?"

Ethan had heard the note of concern in her voice and glanced up from the comic Chip was showing him with great enthusiasm.

But Conner wasn't sure if anything was wrong. For one thing, it wasn't like Krista was a ghost – she was off attending school in Northern California and saving trees or something. And for another, the teenagers seemed certain that her name was Clare. He tried to remember the last time Krista had emailed him, but he couldn't come up with the information. "Bro, what's up?" Ethan asked in a slightly worried tone, appearing at his side.

He looked from Ethan to Kira and then at the others who were staring at him like he had grown another head. "Nothing," he said brusquely. "Just thought she seemed familiar."

Kira touched his arm, tilting her head to look at him. But he threw her an annoyed look and stalked off toward the back room where he planted his butt in the red chair, staring at the TV without saying another word. He shot one glance over to see Kira saying something (probably apologizing for his behavior if he knew his best friend) before she and Ethan returned to their respective shelves. The next thing he heard was a noise on the other side of the door so he quietly snuck up to the spot next to the door where he could hear the conversation.

"I can't believe you mentioned the Power Rangers, Xander," one of the girls said to him in a low, disappointed tone.

Xander was having none of the blame. "Someone was bound to mention the Power Rangers to him. It's not like people don't talk here, Maddie. It could just have easily been Toby."

"He seemed to accept the idea awfully quick," she mused quietly.

"Conner mentioned something about coming from Reefside," Nick said with a thoughtful expression.

Chip tilted his head. "Didn't Reefside have Rangers a couple of years back?"

"That could be why he was so quick to believe," Nick said. "Living in a town where monsters attack regularly and the Power Rangers save lives, it's got to be easy to believe.

"Weren't there five Rangers?"

Vida's question stopped everyone short; Xander nodded and answered, "There were only three Dino Thunder Rangers to begin with. Red, yellow, and blue. Black came a little bit later and I think the white one was evil for a while."

"You're starting to sound like me." Chip grinned at his friend.

Shaking his head to dispel the notion, Xander laid a hand on Chip's shoulder. "Nah, mate, never happen." His accent seemed extra pronounced to prove the point.

"You're suddenly very knowledgeable about the Power Rangers," Nick said, his piercing eyes focused on Xander.

"I was in the library so I did a little bit of research on nearby teams. It might come in handy to know more about our predecessors."

But Chip and Vida were more concerned with the people in the store. "Their clothes are the right colors . . ."

"You don't really think -?" Madison started to say.

In spite of their own private doubts, the four answering responses were resoundingly negative. "No." "No way." "We'd know."

Conner returned to his chair with a grin. It was good to know that their legend lived on. He heard footsteps and turned to face Madison as she studied him closely. "What's going on?" he asked flirtatiously, his good humor restored.

"Uh, nothing," she muttered, flushing pink and turning away to walk toward Xander and Nick who were straightening up one of the tables and watching Kira and Ethan carefully out of the corners of their eyes.

Wondering if she was as positive as her friends that they weren't Rangers, Conner stared at them, struck at the familiarity of the scene. He had seen the same kind of expressions and gestures often on the faces of his friends since the day they had first picked up their Dino Gems. Something about the way they had laughed together, the way that they had seemed to be on the same wavelength even though they appeared to have little in common, and the way they acted so insular and protective . . . there was a chance, maybe small, maybe large, that he was looking at another set of Rangers. He had once wondered if they would ever see another set of Rangers. As much as he liked the Ninja Storm Rangers, Conner often thought about the Rangers who followed their term. According to Dr. O, there was a year or so of peace before the Mystic Force Rangers were called to duty. Now he wondered if anyone would ever tell the Mystic Force Rangers that their powers weren't the only things that mattered. The Ninja Storm Rangers had taught them that other Rangers existed, that they lived out there and continued to save the world in smaller ways even after they gave up the power, and that they could live their lives in a normal fashion afterward.

"You look like you're thinking deep thoughts," Kira said as she and Ethan approached.

Ethan peered at Conner with curiosity. "No, he looks like he has a secret. Come on, spill."

"Are you ready to go?" he asked instead. "If we leave now, we might make it to Blue Bay Harbor in time for dessert."

"Do you only think with your stomach?"

"No, sometimes he thinks with his –"

"Shut up, Ethan," Kira and Conner muttered.

Madison cleared her throat from behind them, and Ethan had the grace to look abashed. "Is there anything else we can help you with?"

"Uh, no, I think if we stayed any longer, Ethan might buy out your comic section." Kira slyly put her own less-than-lightweight shopping bag behind her.

"Excuse me?" Ethan asked, snatching the bag from Kira and pretending to fall to his knees with the weight. They continued to argue good-naturedly as they started toward the door although they did stop to wave at the others before they pushed through the door.

Conner trailed after them, pausing to take one last look at the five teenagers who stood all over the store but there seemed to be no space between them. He nodded soberly at Nick, leader to leader, even if Nick didn't understand and waved at the rest of them. "Bye."

Outside next to the Mustang, Conner laid out his suspicions and the conversation he had overheard to Kira and Ethan. "I think they're the Mystic Force Rangers."

Kira sighed. "You don't really think those kids are out saving the world on a daily basis, do you?"

"They're the same age we were," Ethan pointed out logically. "I mean, they can't be more than two, three years younger than us."

The words were barely out of his mouth before the five teens rushed out of the store, Xander staying behind to lock the door. They hurried past Conner, Ethan, and Kira without a second glance, but Xander dropped a phone when he ran to catch up. "Xander!" Conner called, picking up the phone. "You dropped your phone!" He looked down and realized that it was the weirdest-looking phone he had ever seen. Hefting it slightly, he tried to decipher the symbols, knowing that it was useless. Hayley and Cam would have killed to get their hands on it.

Xander ran back and held out his hand with a breathless smile. "Thanks, mate. I would hate to lose my phone."

"Don't you mean your morpher?" Conner asked calmly.

"My what?" The expression on his face was comical, halfway between horror and innocence.

"Ooh, let me see," Ethan said, reaching for the phone impatiently. "That looks way cooler than the dino morphers."

Kira punched him in the arm. "Don't let Hayley hear you say that." When Xander gave her a confused look, she explained, "Hayley's our tech wizard. She practically built the Zords."

"She didn't build the Zords, they were hatched," Ethan said with an air of superiority.

"Whatever."

Swallowing hard, Xander stared at them like they were aliens. "Zords?"

"Dude, it gets easier."

"What?"

"It gets easier," Conner repeated seriously. "I just want you to know that. Everything – the fighting, the hiding, after you beat the bad guy. Even losing your powers if it comes down to it."

"How do you know?"

Ethan joined in with a grin, eager to keep Conner from having all the wisdom glory. "Because good always wins. It doesn't matter who the enemy is."

"Because Rangers always win and you're a Ranger," Kira corrected with an encouraging smile. "You'll always be a Ranger."

"Xander, come on!" Nick called impatiently, standing near the entrance to Rootcore.

Gesturing that they should go on, Xander turned back to them. "But – "

"No, dude, you have to go," said Conner. "They're waiting on you and you need to go and save the world."

"Can I tell them?"

"I think a better question is will they believe you? Our fearless leader clearly decided that you should know the truth so I doubt that he thinks you shouldn't tell them."

Conner's expression was unreadable. "You shouldn't keep secrets from your teammates."

Laying her hand on Conner's arm, Kira nodded at Xander. "Tell them, Xander. Make sure they know that there is life after being a Ranger."

"XANDER!" This time it was Vida's voice that broke the moment.

"I'm coming, V. Hold your horses," he hollered.

"Man, you should go. She's scary."

Xander laughed at that. "She's not that scary. She's a big old softie at heart. Deep, deep down."

Conner handed back Xander's morpher, ignoring Ethan's wistful sigh. "Go."

"Will you come back?"

"Of course we will. You guys have capes."

Xander saluted them and turned to run toward his friends. "You will never believe . . ." The wind carried back his words, but all they saw was Xander and the others disappearing into a tree.

To anyone else, it probably would have been weird, but Kira just shrugged. "I wonder if they'll actually believe him."

"It doesn't matter," Conner said. "He believes so he can at least tell the others once in a while. And if they survive, he'll know that losing it all isn't everything."

Bumping his shoulder gently, she poked him in the side. "You didn't lose everything, doofus. You still have us."

All three smiled at each other, remembering that having each other was the key to surviving the loss of powers. Ethan broke the magic of the moment by making fun of Conner. "Did you hear yourself, bro? It all becomes easier. What was that?"

Conner flushed and looked set to do violence to his best friend, but Kira interrupted impatiently. "Ethan, they don't know what another set of Rangers look like. They don't know that other people might understand how they feel. We had the Ninja Storm Rangers to make everything easier for us. They don't have anyone except us. And Conner telling them means that they can find us if they ever need to."

"Thanks, Kira," Conner answered.

"Are we going to Blue Bay Harbor or not?" she said, waving dismissively. "I claim the car stereo."

"We are not going to listen to your emo music." Conner and Ethan both protested immediately. "I'm driving, I get to pick the music."

Conner unlocked his car and took one look back at the tree where the Rangers had disappeared. "Con?"

"Yeah. You should call Cam, Ethan, and let him know we'll be there in about an hour. Find out if they can put aside some food for me."

Ethan opened up his cell phone to dial, and once Cam answered, he immediately launched into a description of the Mystic Force morpher.

While Ethan geeked out in the back, Kira looked at Conner and asked, "Do you think we'll ever see them again? I mean if they can't do it . . ."

"They'll do it," Conner said firmly. "They've got their team and they've known each other forever."

Kira shook her head. "Does that really matter? We didn't exactly know each other before."

"It might make them better." Conner remembered the defensive tones that had sprang into their voices when he dared to laugh at Chip. "It makes them stronger because they have a reason to protect each other."

"You protected us when you didn't know us very well, Conner. You were a good leader."

"Of course I was," he retorted affectionately. "All right, pick the least offensive music you just bought and put it in. Not Kylee Styles, please."

Conner did not hear any of the music Kira played for the rest of the car trip. He spent the time considering everything he had learned and wondering how the magic worked out with their powers. It sounded cool enough, but they still wore capes and they probably had magic wands. He silently thanked Dr. O for coming up with uniforms that were much cooler and having dinosaurs be the basis of their powers. The Mystic Force Rangers were welcome to their magic and capes as far as he was concerned, he decided, suppressing the envy that flared up at the thought of having powers, of leading his friends to victory again.


End file.
